Adjustable life and wheel guard



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

E. PEOKHAM. 7 ADJUSTABLE LIFE AND WHEEL GUARD. No. 555,528.

Patented Mar. 3, 1896.

MINUTO-UFHQWASNINGTDNDL UNITED T STATES PATENT FFicE.

EDGAR PEOKHAM, OF KINGSTON, NEWV YORK.

ADJUSTABLE LIFE ANDWHEEL GUARD.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 555,528, dated March 3,1896. Application filed December 24, 1894. Serial No. 532,901. (Nomodel.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, EDGAR PECKHAM, a citizen of the United States, and aresident of Kingston, in the county of Ulster and State of New York,have invented a certain new and useful Adjustable Life and Wheel Guard,of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to guards or fenders to be employed at and inconnection with the end portions of street-cars and similar vehicles,and particularly such as are propelled by endless cables or electricity,and are thus apt to acquire too great a momentum in their movement topermit the driver or motorman to stop the same promptly in case heshould suddenly discover an obstruction in front of the car or a personshould cross in the path of the car and in close proximity to the same,so as to endanger such persons life. Such guards or fenders are adaptedto be operated to prevent obstruction of the car and injury to thepersons.

The purpose of my invention is to so construct such a safety applianceor life-guard as to make it capable of readily and automaticallyaccommodating itself to a desired elevation of its forward end above thetrack. Further purposes are to also make such appliance capable of beingdepressed by the driver or motorman from his position on the platform,to make the cushioned or elastic platform forming part of such device,and which is to pick up and retain large obstructions which may be metwith and Which is to pass over smaller ones, adjustable as far as itsangle with the track-surface is concerned, and to also so locate andadjust the safety or fender appliance with reference to the car-body andits supporting truss-frames as to place the same entirely rearward fromthe front end of the car-platform, so as to guard against such elasticplatform interfering with and tripping persons who might I otherwisecross the track in safety. Iaccomplish these and other useful purposesby means of the construction hereinafter described and specified andmore particularly set forth in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, andwherein like numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in bothviews, Figure 1. represents a side elevation of my safety appliance orlifeguard as attached to the end portion of a car, and Fig. 2 a groundplan of one end of the car and truck-frame with my improvements attachedthereto. A lever mechanism with suitable foot-piece for operating thedevice by the foot of the driver or motorman is shown in dotted lines inboth figures.

The numeral 3 indicates the body of the car, and 4': its front platform.

5 is a sill on which the body of the car rests. (Shown here to beconstructed of a flat metallic bar.)

6 is the yoke resting on the axle-box 7.

8 and 9 are horizontal beams secured to the central part of the yoke.

10 is a horizontal beam attached to the lower end of the yoke andextending toward the central part of the car, and 11 a sloping orinclined truss-beam attached to the lower outer extremity of the yoke,and also to the outer end of beam 8.

11 is an elliptic spring, and 12 and 13 are spiral springs, allinterposed between the upper car-sill and beams 8 and 9, respectively.Said spiral springs are provided with suitable stay or guide bolts, andthe guide-bolt of spring 12 is extended downward through and underneathbeam 8 and there provided with a suitable counter-spring 14:.

15 is the wheel-axle supported in axle-boxes 7 and 16 16 are the wheelson said axle.

Parts indicated by B B in Fig. 2 are parts of a brake mechanism notfurther described herein, as notrelated to the subject of thisinvention.

The parts 3 to 16 inclusive being either of known construction, orparticularly in their combinations described and claimed by me in otherapplications now pending before the Patent Office, I do not deem itnecessary to describe the same more fully here.

The numerals 17 and 18 indicate longitudinal and 19 and 20 transversebars, made preferably round and tubular, and joined together by suitablefittings so as to form a rigid frame.

Bars 18, 19 and 20 jointly form arectangular parallelogram of a lengthcorresponding substantially to the width of the car.

21 21 represent elastic metallic strips, or-

lelogram into an elastic platform capable of receiving and supportingheavy and bulky articles that may be located in the path of the car andbe thrown onto said platform.

22 is a forked angular attachment at the rear end of bar 17. The same isprovided with a series of holes 23 capable of receiving a bolt 24,whereby said forked attachment is connected to truss-beam 11 and wherebythe rear ends of the frame supporting the elastic platform may be raisedand lowered with reference to the truck-frame.

The numeral 25 indicates a transverse beam forming part of or connectedto the truckframe. To said beam there are bolted T- shaped brackets 26,and through the horizontal members of such brackets vertical bolts 27are allowed to play freely. The lower ends of said bolts are connectedby suitable fittings with the frame carrying the elastic platform, suchfittin gs being shown to be attached to transverse bar 19 near its outerends.

28 28 are washers between which a spiral spring 29 is inserted, and 3030 are washers for receiving the ends of a counter spiral spring 31.Said washers and springs are placed around bolt 27. The upper end ofbolt 27 is screw-threaded and provided with a suitable nut 32, wherebydesired tension may be imparted to said springs and the central part ofthe elastic-platform frame may be slightly raised and lowered. \Vhilethe preferred slope of the elastic platform is, as shown in Fig. 1,approximately horizontal but slightly sloping downward and toward theend of the car, it will be seen that such slope may, as circumstancesrequire, be materially modified by means of the adjusting devices nearthe central and near the rear end of the frame supporting the elasticplatform. It will also be seen that in case a comparatively smallobstruction, such as a stone, should have been placed on the track, therounding forward end of the elastic platform will be aptto be guidedover the same and the spring 29 and counterspring 31 will permit saidplatform to rise and clear the obstacle, while a larger object, such asa child, will be tripped by such front end and thrown rearward upon saidplatform, where it may remain in comparative safety until the car can bestopped.

is a lever fulcrumed underneath the carplatform at 34 and connected witha springseated foot-pin 35 near the front end of the car-platform, and3G a vertical bar having its upper end hinged to the rear end of saidlever and its lower end to a transverse bar 37, the outer ends of whichare jointed to bars 17 between the central and the rear supports of theframe carrying the elastic platform.

It will readily be seen that if the driver or motorman should discoveran object on the track which he desires the fender to clear, he can by aslight pressure of his foot upon the foot-pin elevate said fenderaccordingly.

My safety appliances can, of course, be applied to any suitable form ofcar and car truck, and the details of my device may be modified inaccordance with the conditions so presented and without departing fromthe spirit of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-- g 1. In an adjustable life and wheelguard, the combination with an elastic platform provided withrearward]y-extended horizontal bars, as 17, having at theirendsattachments for conneetin g said bars to a truck-frame to permit ofvertical adjustment of the ends of said bars, of a transverse beam, as25, provided with brackets near its ends, vertical bolts playing throughsaid brackets and having their lower ends connected to transverse bar 19of the frame of the elastic platform, spiral springs surrounding saidbolts and means for exerting tension on said springs, substantially asset forth.

2. The combination with the truss-beams 11 of the truck, of an elasticplatform provided with horizontally-extended rear bars, as 17, forkedangular attachments at the ends of said bars provided with holes wherebythe same may be adjustably connected to said truss-beams, brackets forreceiving yielding and adjustable supporting devices for the centralpart of the elastic platform, a transverse bar, as 37, connected to saidhorizontal bars 17 of the elastic platform at the rear of theyield-supports of said platform, and lever mechanism connected to thetransverse bar 37 and extending to the car-platfor1n,substantially asset forth.

3. The combination with the truck-frame and the transverse beam 25connected to the same and provided with T-shaped brackets 26, of anelastic platform having rearwardlyextending horizontal bars which areadjustably connected at their ends to the truckframe, vertical boltsplaying through the horizontal members of said brackets with their lowerends connected by suitable fittings to the elastic platform, spiral.springs surrounding said bolts and means for adjusting the tension ofsaid springs, substantially as set forth.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York,this 14th day of December, A. D. 189i.

EDGAR PECKIIAM.

\Vitnesses:

J. E. M. BOWEN, M. C. PINCKNEY.

